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STRENGTH IN SORROW 



A SEE M ON, 

*V cached in ^t. ^ohtt'S Church, (fanamlaiiiua, 



JUNE 1st, 1865, 



OX TIIK OCCASION OK THE 



■' 



NATIONAL FAST. FOLLOWING ITON THE 



ASSASSINATION OK /<$* 



PRES1 DENT UNCO'lrV: 




ItY I III. 

KE\ r . (J. s. LEb'KLNUWELL, M. A 
i: kcto i:. 



( AN.\M)AI«;i A : 
Printed al C. Jobson'a office, Beuiis Bloi 

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k, -_:- 1 story, 






STRENGTH IN SORROW. 

A SERMON, 

breached in $t. Bonn's Church, (Tanandaipa, 

JUNE 1st, 1865, 

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 
NATIONAL FAST. FOLLOWING UPON THE 

ASSASSINATION OF 

PRES1 DENT LINCOLN. 




IV TI1K 

IIK\ . C S. LEFFINGWELL, M. A.. 

i » 

i; ECTO K. 



CANANDAIGUA : 

Printed al *'. Jobson's office, Benals Block, 2d story. 

1865. 






CANANDAIGUA, > 

Tm rsdav, 1m June, 18C5. $. 
Rev. i '. S. I,i;i i i\i,w hi. i. : — 

De \i; Sir : 

The an eel • | ectfullj solicil for publi- 

cation, a copy of the excellent ami interesting sermon delivered by you at 
St. John's Church, this morning, on the occasion of the Fast day appoint- 
ed in consequence of the assassination of President Lincoln. 

Respectfully Yours, 

JAMES C. SMITH, 
EBENEZEK BALE, 
CHAS. B. MEEK, 
SANDERS IKY INC. 
E. <i. LATHAM. 
WILLIAM II. ADAMS. 
W. FITCH CHENEY. 
A. (J. MURRAY. 



Hon. James C. Smith, Ebekezer Hale, Esq., and others : 

Genu emen : — 

I have to acknowledge the receipt of yonr 
complimentary favor of the 1st inst. : and in acting upon the subject mat- 
ter of 3 our oote, rely upon your, judgment rather than on my own. and so, 
I place al yonr disposal the Sermon delivered in St. John's Church, on the 
memorable day of our National Fast. 

Respectfully Yours, 

C. S. LEFFINGWELL. 
St John's Rectory, ? 
June .;. L865. ' ] 



SE RMON. 

■■ What hath God wrought!" — (Ni mbers. xniii : 2::.) 

There is a duty laid upon me to-day from which 
! would almosl willingly shrink ; the task of address- 
ing you upon a subject, concerning which, although 
our thoughts arc all in unison, yet a subject upon 
which a number of my congregation could speak 
with fuller justice than myself. A_nd for this reason, 
I had hoped, that one of , our own number would ad- 
dress our citizens this evening, from whose wisdom. 
and large experience in dealing with legal and na- 
tional topics, we might have gleaned more valuable 
lessons than it, may be in my power to offer. 

But, though I feel myself incompetent to the task 
of the hour, 1 shall gladly utter the honest convic- 
tions of my heart, and in doing this, I feel assured 
from the oneness of sentiment among us, that my 
words will meet a response in the breast of all. 

A month and a half has passed by, since the mur- 
der of President Lincoln, but that brief period will 
not suffice to enable us fully to estimate the worth 
of his character, or rightly to judge of the influence 
which his official work and untimely death will have 
upon our national future. 



I STRENGTH IN SORROW. 

Greater men, intellectually, doubtless our laud 
could boast. There were those of a higher culture 
and refinement among us ; there were men of more 
grace fulri ss and elegance of manner, and there 
may have been men of a deeper toned religious life. 
Bui he had thai degree of religion which taught 
him to familiarize himself with the Holy Scriptures. 
—to pray to the God of both princes and people, — 
to infuse into his writings the spirit of our common 
Christianity, and to make the rare acknowledgment 
in those public records and official papers, of our 
utter dependence, as a nation, upon the Supreme 
Being. 

Bad others a native exterior grace which lie did 
not share, or an acquired outward refinement which 
he did not reach? He had the grace of honesty of 
purpose and singleness of heart, to do his duty well 
in that state of life whereunto he hail been called. 

Had Others greater charms of manner, and ac- 
ceptableness of person? He had that degree of 
attractiveness which has won for him a higher and 
more enduring place in the national esteem, — than 
has been gained by any man. since the noble form 
of Washington was laid down to its quiel rest in 
the hallowed shades of Mount Vernon. 

Could <'thers he found of stronger intellect or 
more vivid mental brilliance ? He had that degree 
of mental power which enabled him. under God, to 
accomplish by his steady, persistenl efforts, the great 
hop.' of a nation's agonizing heart, that degree ^\ 
mental energy which enabled him, as God's instru- 
ment, to brine; to a brilliant success, the last, the 



STRENGTH IX SORROW 



greatest experiment of modern history : an experi- 
ment whose momentous' issues we shall never fully 
realize ; an undertaking whose results only our chil- 
dren and our children's children will appreciate ; 
an experiment testing the strength, — and, thanks to 
our God, — proving the stability of our republican 
form of government. 

The winds of division beat fiercely upon ii ; the 
waves of rebellion rolled with gigantic force against 
it. hut it stood, — and stands to-day stronger than it 
stood before,- more firmly established than ever, 
by earnest hearts and patriotic hands, upon the 
greal rock of eternal right. 

Friends abroad withdrew their sympathy, and 
foes abroad nave aid to Joes at home, but we think 
they would to-day gladly bury the remembrance of 
their ill-judged deeds, and join with us in rendering 
honor to the man who. under God, guided our na- 
tion through those perilous times ; the man who is 
remembered and mourned all through our land 
to-day. 

Again, it was an experiment which forced upon 
our government the final solution of the long vexing 
lion, whether it would continue to nurse, to 
feed, and fatten, with the lite blood of the nation, 
thai offspring of Satan. Human Slavery, or suffer it 
to die a suicidal death, its hands imbrued in its own 
blood. 

For long and weary years the wisdom of our 
sagesl counsellors had been baffled in every plan 
ami effort, to lift that evil weight from the bowed 
head and aching shoulders of American civilization. 



6 STRENGTH IN SORROW , 

For long and weary years, that curse had been 
brooding over the land, its ominous threats grow- 
ing louder, its intimidating menaces growing wilder 
and fiercer, alarming the timorous and mocking the 
most confident and brave. 

In an evil hour for itself, it gathered up its great 
resources, and. snatching every adventitious aid, 
t-ame rushing with demoniac determination to give 
to the American Union the fell stroke of death. 

And in thai sad encounter, our quiet, peaceful 
nation reeled and tottered ! Amazed and bewil- 
dered, is it strange that she should have reeled'.' is 
it marvellous that she should have stumbled? 

Bui she only stumbled. She did not fall. In her 
very stumbling she learned her footing. She planted 
her feet more firmly. She arose with caution, called 
in the strength hitherto expended upon her accus- 
tomed peaceful acts, and renewed the contest with 
valiant earnestness, while each successive struggle 
gave to her the valued power of experience. 

She gained by continual victories and even by 
seeming defeat, until now. at last, before her erect, 
well-knit frame and stalwart form, the foe winch 
soughl her ruin lies lifeless at her feet. 

The cloud, the veil is removed. The curse of 
human Slavery is lifted from the brow of American 
Freedom, while the world abroad looks on with 
wonder and amazement, and we at home are filled 
with earnesl gladness. For here, in the very home 
of Freedom, has Tyranny received her greatest 
shock! Here in our own laud, in our own time 
and midst, has the greatest experiment of modern 



STRENGTH IN SORROW. I 

history been made. Tyranny has sought the very 
life of Liberty and has fallen in the act. Human 
Slavery has reached its possible limits, and lias 
perished in its own eventuatings! 

The reaction of this event, the influence of this 
great stride of Liberty will be felt upon the world 
at large from this year of grace onward. 

The rights of humanity have been asserted, de- 
fended ami upheld. The privileges of the lew have 
been weighed in the balance .with the inalienable 
rights <>l' the many, and, found wanting, have been 
condemned, and that condemnation has been sealed, 

forever sealed, on this continent, with the blood 
of tie- representative man of his age, — him whom we 
commemorate to-day. 

His position as our President, during the fearful 
ordeal of the Rebellion, drew upon him the steady 
earnest gaze of i'\rvy nation. He stood the fore- 
most man of his time, the embodiment of the greal 
American idea, " Popular rights. Freedom for all. 
Oppression to none." lie caught the clarion echo 
which has rung through our forest-, over ourvallies 
and hills, which has resounded in our cities and 
hamlets, until it has stamped itself upon the Ameri- 
can Spirit • " Liberty or Death /" Both were reach- 
ed. Liberty for the enslaved, Death for him. lie 
fell, but his mission was accomplished, his work was 
dime. — and he has now been laid down to his rest, 
sharing the long sleep of those other heroes, who 
poured out their life blood on the battle held, mar- 
tyrs alike to the sacred work of advancing human 
civilization. 



8 STRENGTH IN SORROW. 

The first words transmitted over the Magnetic 
Telegraph, whose electric wires now encircle the 
land were these : " What hath God wrought /" 

Man, then only discovered what God had made 
from the first. It was God's doing, and in his own 
time, be permitted the mind of man to observe and 
apply the subtle element of Electricity to the pur- 
poses and wants of civilized life, and now that mys- 
tic cord runs in every direction over the world, and 
its varied uses have become a recognized, essential 
element, in the work of human progress. 

Bui that first telegram,—" What hath God 
wrought !" has do more appropriate application to 
thai one advance, than to any other great step of 
Civilization. The hand of God is to be recognized 
every where, and at all times. 

Does any one ask. if i see the hand of God in 
the violent scenes which were lately enacted in the 
city of Washington '.' f answer, that 1 recognize the 
kind, overruling Providence of God in preserving 
the lives of our national counsellors in their great 
extremity, and, looking further back, I acknowledge 
the providence of God's overruling care, in continu- 
ing him. their chic!', in life, and effective health, and 
strength, so long as he did, — in preserving him 
through all those imminent perils, until his work 
was done. 

His life, to all human appearance, was in far 
greater danger many times before, lie laid incurred 
risks which called forth the fears of the nation. 

The memorable nighl of his inhuman slaughter, 
was marked by uo sign of evil. No danger ap- 



STRENGTH IN SORROW. 9 

peared in view. The great jeopardies, the apparent 
hazards had all been ventured before, and in and 
through them a good providence had sheltered 
him : and now, when the work assigned him to be 
accomplished in active life had been done, — the 
work assigned him to be accomplished in death was 
permitted to occur. 

In that event, Grod has taught afresh, and with 
an emphasis never more thrilling, that any human 
arm, to which nations or individuals may cling for 
defence or safety, is frail as the bending reed, and 
fleeting as the passing hour. 

Thai human aid, though given by God's good- 
ness, and sustained by God's providence, is only 
human and is to be given up in God's own time. 
Thai lesson we have been taught anew, which the 
Psalmist inculcated long centuries ago : " It is bet- 
ter to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence 
in princes." Their power is feeble and limited. 
They are weak and finite. They must perish like 
ourselves.- -for they are subject to the same unhesi- 
tating call. The highest form mnsl bend. The 
strongest arm must yield. The wisest ami most 
prudent, cannot foresee, ami prevent, the inevita- 
ble lot of all. Death renders no homage to lofty 
place, or deference to highest worth. All earthly 
powers an- tributary to the King of Terrors. He 
walks the palace floor, and climbs the very throne. 
He snatches the sceptre from the hand of power. 
and trample- on goodness, and mocks at greatness. 

The worthiest princes, as was said of David must, 
after serving their generation for a time, fall 



10 



STRENGTH in SORROW 



asleep. For this reason we arc to moderate our 
confidence in them, and make it subordinate to the 
t ru.st we should ever repose in God. Theirs, may 
indeed, be wise designs, and generous purposes for 
the nation's good, but when "their breath goeth 
forth, then all their thoughts perish ! 

What vain props arc these, for a nation's secu- 
rity ! What uncertain support, what unsafe reli- 
ance, is any thing short of (rod. upon whose direct 
guidance we all are freshly taught to lean. 

In coming years, men will read the record of our 
late civil strife, with a truer understanding of God's 
Providential guidings, and will be able to trace the 
steps of his wisdom and goodness and love, in many 
of the complicated and trying events of the time, 
which we from our nearer position, may be unable 
fully to decipher. 

But even now, blind is the eye. and unbelieving 
is the heart, which does not recognize the Provi- 
dence of the Lord of Hosts, in leading this great 
people, through broad fields of blood toward the 
quiet valley of rest, guiding our perilous march j 
made with agonizing hearts, through the black night 
of war. and bidding us to celebrate the dawn of 
peace, while gathered as one great mourning nation, 
even around the new-made grave of our slaughtered 
leader. 

That death occurred with the fore-knowledge, 
and permission of the omniscient God, and. as con- 
cerning our great gladness in victory and peace, - 
so concerning our great grief in the loss of the Presi- 
dent,— -we may well exclaim with wondering awe : 



STRENGTH 1\ SORROW. 11 

" Wliat hath God wrought!" How he has allied 
grief unto gladness ! How he dashed our grow- 
ing joy with sudden and weighty sorrow, — and 
made that nnforseen, abrupt commingling of smiles 
and tears, a nation's emblem of human life ! How 
he evidenced to all, that which every christian 
man should remember in his private individual life, 
thai the hour of victory is the hour of danger ! 

And even in minor and more personal matters, 
the providence of God has been plainly apparent. 
How brief the victim's suffering ! How promptly 
the foul assassin was brought to bay, and how wise- 
ly was his evil life disposed of! How quietly our 
government passed on, in its regular functions! 
How quickly was the great Rebellion ended ! How 
rapid the events of those lew day-! Who can for- 
get them ! 

There is such a majesty, such a power in solemn 
universal grief, that in those dark hours of sorrow 
we fell within ourselves and in each other, a linn 
strength and a oneness, which gave to the Ameri- 
can nation a presence and a mien, approaching the 
sublime! In solemn quietness we stood, and looked 
calmly upward to our God, though vivid hopes and 
startling Tears were pulsating in every vein! Bui 
< rod's arm brought salvation. His providential care, 
bridged over the danger. And now. as we see those 
fears removed, and those hopes reaching fruition. 
i.> it too soon, even on this day of humiliation and 
sadness, in view of all that has been done. — in view 
of all that has been gained, and of all that has been 



I- STRENGTH IX SORROW. 

lost, is it too soon to exclaim with reverence, — 
■ 11 hat hath God wrought !' 



Brethren, who of us hereafter will reckon upon 
any certain morrow '.' A few weeks since, — in 
that holy season, when we were reviewing the sad 
scenes of Calvary, — on the last morning of the 
week, when as it were we watched the holy sepul- 
chre where our Lord was laid — there came sudden 
tidings! In whispered tones men told them to each 
other. "Impossible!" we each one cried,— but it 
was true. 

Our President was dead! — dead, while almost 
countless armies, awaited his bidding, — dead, while 
the great world was watching for his next move- 
ment. 

Who then of us will count with certainty upon 
any to-morrow ! 

But while we do live, let us, as we now, led by the 
hand of God are merging upon better and brighter 
times,. — let us ever cherish the memory of the pat- 
riotic dead,- the heroes who have gone forth in our 
stead — who have fought our battles for us, and have 
perished. 

Let them still live. Let their names be always 
fresh, and their memory ever green, that in genera- 
lions to come our children may cherish their worth, 
and honor their deeds, as we have done honor to 
the heroes of revolulionarv fame. 



STREXGTO IX SORROW. lo 

Wherever they li< i buried, in prison vault or open 
field — there is a shrine for patriotic pilgrimage, — 
•• there is a spot, at which, for ages to come, valor 
shall gain fresh life, and where freedom shall trim 
her torch." 

They have not died in vain, — their death pro- 
cures for us a lasting peace, enlarges the area of 
human freedom, builds up in every corner of our 
land, a tower of strength impregnable to any foe 
abroad, and points forever to the bloody doom of 
treachery al hour- '. 

Shall we not then, as Christian Patriots, give unto 

God the glory due for his providential care, and in 

view of all that we have gained, as well as in view 

of all thai we have lost, exclaim with reverence, — 

•• We \t ii \Mi G-OD wrought!" 



14 STRENGTH IN SORROW. 



THE PRAYER FOR UNITY. 



Almighty God, we implore Thy mercy for all the 
people of this land, and more especially therein for 
all Christians ; beseeching Thee to give ns grace, 
seriously to lay to heart, the great dangers we are 
in, by oarunhappy divisions. Takeaway all hatred 
and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us 
from godly union and concord : that, as there is 
but one body and one Spirit, and one hope of our 
calling, one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God 
and Father of us all ; so we may henceforth be all 
of one heart and one soul, united in one holy bond 
of truth, of faith and charity, and may with one 
mind and one mouth glorify Thee : through Jesus 
Christ our Lord. A men. 



4. 









